Manchester United close in on Ilkay Gundogan

Borussia Dortmund’s Ilkay Gundogan

Manchester United are close to agreeing a £21.5m deal to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, according to sources. The signing should not be a surprise as Louis Van Gaal had stated back in February he wanted to sign a creative midfielder in the summer.

Gundogan, 24, has been with Dortmund since 2011. He replaced Dortmund hero Nuri Sahin in their starting line-up when he joined and has not looked back since then. He did the double with Dortmund in his first year at the club, also scoring a penalty in the Champions League final defeat to Bayern Munich two years ago.

Even though he missed almost the whole of last season because of a serious back injury, he has made a great comeback for Dortmund and has been one of the very few standout players for them this season. Gundogan could be a natural successor to Michael Carrick because like the Englishman, Gundogam prefers to play as a deep-lying playmaker. He could be a perfect partner to Herrera in the Manchester United midfield, thereby bringing much-needed balance to the Manchester United side.

Gundogan is out of contract at the end of the 2015-16 season and Dortmund are thought to be willing to sell this summer to avoid losing him for nothing. Arsenal were also linked with a move for the 24-year-old midfielder but as per latest reports, Manchester United are the favourites to sign the German international.